


Gentle

by unknownlifeform



Series: Mako green and Dust gold [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Character Study, F/M, Gen, Pre-Canon, sort of spoilery if you don't know barret's backstory yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24947368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknownlifeform/pseuds/unknownlifeform
Summary: Barret Wallace is not a delicate man. Anyone who looked at his daemon would be able to tell.
Relationships: Barret Wallace & Marlene Wallace, Barret Wallace/Myrna Wallace
Series: Mako green and Dust gold [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801477
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Gentle

**Author's Note:**

> I do think we could do with more Barret-centric fic, actually

Bernadette settled when Barret was only eleven. It was kind of a surprise for people, because they were a little on the young side for it. The true shock, however, was when they realized _what_ Bernadette had settled as.

Kids who settled early often had small daemons, or so people said. They'd point at Ella, from a few doors down, who'd also settled at eleven, and her little mouse daemon, or old Sam, who held a record in Corel,  his daemon  having settled at ten, as a toad.

Clearly it couldn't be a hard and fast rule, else Barret would not have a damn bear.

"Your Pa would be so proud," Ma told him, hugging Barret. "Such a great daemon."

Barret hoped so, because he loved his Pa, even if he didn't really remember him much. He died when Barret was six, down in the mines, because if someone in Corel died before their time it was always in the mines. No one noticed the firedamp until it exploded, and goodbye Pa.

Some people didn't really agree with Ma. A daemon that was too small wasn't good, but neither was one too big. They shook their heads, saying surely Barret would cause trouble one day or the other. Far too big a personality. And not just big, a bear! Stubborn and dangerous and aggressive.

It was good that that Wallace kid was strong, said old men, clicking their tongues, working in mines was a hard job and there was little else one could do in Corel. But someone would have to keep an eye on him. He was already a loud kid, prone to getting into fights with others, he needed to be set straight or he'd become a real troublesome man one day. Or so they said.

Barret couldn't care less what old people said. They always found something to complain about when kids settled. Bernadette was too big and someone else was too small and people who were just the right size still had something else wrong.

Personally, he thought Bernadette was awesome. She was  _huge_ , so big he could even ride on her and she'd barely feel him there. He could even sleep on her. And now all the other kids in town respected them, cause Bernadette was bigger than anyone else's daemon.

Most of them did, at least.

"So are you gonna sleep off the whole winter now?" Dyne asked him, grinning.

"Piss off, you're just jealou s cause Bernadette is settled and your  Danica still hasn't."

Dyne shoved him. "Shut up! Of course I'm not settled yet, I'm younger than you!"

"You're a little brat, you mean!"

***

The problem with mines was that they didn't really have a lot of space.

If you complained about it, no doubt you'd get an old man on your case telling you to stop being ungrateful, and that it was so much harder when he was young, when they still had to bring down canaries to check for gas.

Well Barret still felt he had a right to complain. He was a big guy, and that was already enough to struggle a little in the smaller tunnels. And then there was Bernadette, who simply could not fit. They had to stick to the larger tunnels to work, and even those could be suffocating at times.

It was a problem, because Barret was good at being a miner. He liked the job, even if it was dangerous and exhausting. He was proud of the muscles he was packing up, all earned with hard work down there. He just wished Bernadette would not have to drag against the wall or even the ceiling. She barely even fit in the damn elevator, she and Barret had to do the ride down on their own every time.

Still, sometimes there were pros to his daemon.

The electrical implant that powered the carts got busted one day. Until it got repaired, Barret and Bernadette volunteered to drag them around. He made a harness with rope, and tied her in front of the cart, while he went behind and pushed to help.

Maybe some people would say it was demeaning, to use a daemon like a glorified mule. Barret didn't mind it. Everyone had to pull their own weight in Corel, and between him and Bernadette there was really a lot of it to use. They both ended up aching all over afterwards, but who else would have had enough strength to carry some coal full carts all day?

* **

Barret had known Myrna since they were kids, and started having a crush on her at some point around the time he was sixteen. It took him ages to actually act on it, because at sixteen he knew absolutely nothings of girls. Then she found a boyfriend, and then when they broke up Barret's Ma had gotten sick and he had to work twice as hard to take care of the two of them, let alone of a wife too.

"You've got it bad," Bernadette told him once. "You haven't even asked her out, and you're already planning a summer wedding."

"That ain't true! It's just a little crush, that's all."

"Little? Your crush is bigger and fatter than I am."

Barret huffed. "Is not. And spring weddings are better, anyways."

He did manage to ask her out, eventually. Didn't even fumble with the words. Or, just a little bit, maybe, but if Myrna noticed, she didn't say. She actually seemed rather charmed, if Barret said so himself.

A real spitfire, that girl. No one was able to start shit with her, and if they did, she would be the one to end it. She even managed to put _Barret_ back in his place, and that wasn't something just everyone could do.

So much personality in that small body, and while most people were small compared to Barret she really was petite. Even with muscles she'd gained as a miner, she still was shorter than average. Her head barely got to Barret's chest. For all that she was strong, Barret often worried he might end up hurting her, because he was just so much bigger and terrible about keeping his strength in check.

Bernadette was in a similar position, because Max was so ridiculously small compared to her. She barely ever tried to touch him, worried she might accidentally harm his little bird body.

"You worry too much," Myrna always said.

"I don't want to hurt you," Barret replied. He always tried not to hug her too tight, squeeze her hand too much.

"Good, cause I'd never date a man who hurts me on purpose. You just need to learn how to be a bit more delicate."

Fat chance. Barret had never been delicate a day of his life. He was good at breaking coal out of the rock and shouting louder than anyone else in the room and wrestling with Dyne. He was a running train, not made for gentle affection.

But he'd try. For his girl, he'd try. It took him time, and Myrna calling him out on being too apprehensive more than once, but he even managed to learn. She was sturdier than she looked, and Max was too.

They got married one year after they had started dating. In fall. She was stunning in that white dress. Dyne was his best man, and he'd been joking before the wedding that he'd have to hold Barret up when he'd eventually faint at the sight of his wife. For a moment, Barret thought that might actually be necessary. Danica did have to press her head against Bernadette's flank for a moment, keeping her upright.

It was only a pity Barret's Ma wasn't there to see him. She'd passed away in her sleep, a few months before, and Barret hoped that wherever she was she was watching him. She and his Pa too. He wished she'd been able to live enough to see him marry. Maybe even meet her grandkids.

Well, that wouldn't have happened anyways.

Myrna had already started coughing before the wedding. Not much, at first, but it became more and more common as time passed. It was never a good sign when a miner kept coughing and constantly ran out of breath. Despite Barret's worrying, she insisted on going to work. Up to when dark fluid started coming up with her cough.

There wasn't a cure for black lung. All they could do was change her shifts, keep her out of the tunnels as much as possible, and try to control the symptoms before they got worse. Barret tried to convince her to find a new job, but Myrna's whole family had worked in those mines for generations. She didn't know what else to do.

Of course, she tried to downplay how bad she felt. She didn't like to be pitied. But it was hard to hide if from Barret, when they lived the same house and shared a bed.

Barret threw himself into work, trying to find enough money for the treatments. He'd hold her at night, when he came home dragging his feet, but always lightly. The sickness had made Myrna fragile, and Barret didn't want to further restrict her breathing with his arms.

Max used to sleep in Bernadette's fur, using her fur as a nest. Myrna would pet her, sometimes, and Barret almost wept with love every time she did.

Both things had to stop. Myrna's and Max's lungs alike were already blackened and damaged, and it was nearly impossible to get all the coal dust out of Bernadette's fur.

***

Barret had not come to Dyne's house prepared to hold a newborn, and now that one had been put in his arms he wasn't sure how to react. He kept completely still, not wanting to jostle or bother the tiny little baby.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Dyne said, looking at his daughter.

"I'm just hoping for her that she took from your wife and not you."

Dyne laughed. "My daughter is one day old, and you're already talking shit about me in front of her."

"Mind the language, what kind of example are you setting?"

Dyne's eyes were shining with joy, and Barret was also so very happy for his best friend. He and Eleanor had been talking about starting a family for a while now, and finally they'd had their child. The first of many, probably. Dyne's wife was from a big family, Barret knew she wanted a good dozen kids.

It was still strange to think of Dyne as a father. Hard to believe he truly had a daughter, even if little Marlene was sleeping in the crook of Barret's arm. She still looked squishy in the way all newborns did, but she was already a charming girl.

Was he Uncle Barret now? He didn't know what an uncle did, but he'd be damned if he didn't do the job right.

Myrna stepped up to him. "Hand her here, I can see you starting to panic."

"I'm not panicking."

"You've not moved an inch since you got the kid."

Well, he could hardly be blamed for that. He'd never held a child that small.

Myrna took Marlene from Barret's arms. The baby barely seemed to notice. She just kept sleeping, her tiny little daemon on her chest in the form of a baby mouse. He wasn't sure if they'd already picked a name for him.

Barret wished he could see Myrna hold a baby that was their own, one day. He would have loved to have kids. But Myrna was still weak, her lungs still rattled when she breathed, and neither of them wanted her to get pregnant while she was like this.

There was always hope, however. Barret wouldn't bring it up now, but there was that Shinra offer on the table. Dyne was as stubborn as a goat, but Barret was as stubborn as a bear. He was sure he could convince him to let them build that reactor. It would mean money, and jobs that were not in the mines, and maybe a cure for Myrna.

***

There was blood seeping through the bandages around his arm. The wounds must have reopened, or maybe they had never closed in the first place. Barret's head was spinning, with bloodloss or shock he couldn't say.

He couldn't find Myrna anywhere. He dug all the way through the rubble that was left of their house with the one hand he had left, but he'd not found any sign of her. She'd been sick, but not dying yet, she could have ran out when the bombs had started flying, escaped somewhere-

She couldn't be dead. Not his Myrna, not after all Barret had done to get her back to health. He'd gotten Shinra in Corel, he'd hoped they'd bring better doctors, better medicine, dammit! If his wife was dead, it would be Barret's fault.

He blinked, trying to chase away the blurriness of his gaze. Tears, and black little dots dancing at the edges of his vision. He couldn't keep searching where he couldn't see, but he also didn't know where to keep searching. He couldn't even think of where to look, his head foggy and full of far too many emotions.

He couldn't pass out, not now. He was tired and dizzy and his throat ached from the smoke and all the screaming he had done, but he couldn't stop. There could still be people alive in there.

Bernadette suddenly stood on her hind legs, her ears pointed in front of her. "Barret! Quick!" she called, heading away from there.

He didn't know what she had spotted, but he trusted her senses more than he trusted his own. She limped through the wreckage, the phantom pain of Barret's arm making it hard for her to walk.

Soon enough, Barret found what Bernadette had been looking for. A little child, somehow still alive in all this destruction.

"Marlene," Barret whispered. He hadn't dared to hope for a child so young to have survived, but there she was. A small miracle.

Her face was all covered in soot, tear tracks on her cheeks. She had stopped crying at some point, probably tired out her little lungs screaming when the attack had come. Now she just sniffled, one tiny fist in her mouth.

Barret scooped her up with his good arm. The world spun dangerously when he straightened up, but he managed to steady himself. Couldn't fall when he was holding Marlene. "We're finding a doctor," he said. She looked fine, but there was the chance of an injury Barret couldn't see.

Bernadette nuzzled Matias with her muzzle. He was curled up in the shape of a kitten, shaking in fear. He blinked at the huge daemon standing over him. Did he recognize Bernadette as someone he knew? Barret didn't know how clever kids or daemons that young were.

After a couple nudges, Matias changed shape. He turned into a little monkey, and his hands grabbed on to Bernadette's fur.

"Good boy," she said.

"Smart little thing," Barret agreed.

He turned around. He had to find someone who could take a look at Marlene.

***

" Let me go!"

B arret stoppe d dead in his tracks. It was never a good thing to hear a girl's voice screaming something like that,  let alone in Midgar's slums and late in the evening.

Exchanging a glance with Bernadette, they walked  to the alley the voice came from. 

There was a teenage girl struggling to rip her arm away from the grip of a Shinra infantryman. Three of them surrounded her, actually.

"You're coming with us for questioning," the one holding her said.

Barret grit his teeth. Shinra bastards! Ganging up three against one, all of them holding their rifles while she wasn't even armed. He didn't care what she'd done, that was no way to treat someone, let alone a young girl.

He was just about to give them a piece of his mind, when the girl – who probably weighed as much as Barret's arm, and there was no way she was even an adult – spun on her feet, broke out of the grip, and delivered a kick straight to that guy's teeth. Her daemon, a weird animal Barret didn't recognize, jumped and slammed his hind legs against the infantryman's dog daemon.

That was pretty impressive.

Seeing that, it was clear this girl knew how to handle herself, but she was still one against three, and the others had weapons.

"How about you leave the lady alone?" Barret shouted, raising his arm and letting out a round towards the sky.

Those three hesitated, and then fled when Bernadette rose on her hind legs with a menacing growl.

"You alright, kid?" Barret asked. Really, she looked young, sixteen or seventeen maybe. Her clothes were run down, and she had the face of someone who isn't quite eating enough.

Like far too many people around there.

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "Thank you," she added, as an afterthought.

"What'd you do to get them so mad at you?"

She shrugged, massaging her arm. "Maybe I got on a Shinra compound and burst a few tires."

Barret laughed. "You did? Good job!"

The girl looked up at him. "This is where most people would tell me what I did was a crime, you know."

"Shinra's existence is the crime. Bunch of assholes. The more trouble you cause for them, the better. Just don't get caught next time."

"I'll do my best," she said, smiling.

" What's your name, by the way?" Barret asked.

"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. And this is Edelweiss," she said. "Always nice meeting someone who also hates Shinra."

She held out her hand, but then drew it back, eyes flickering to Barret's arm.

Barret grinned at her, and extended his left hand instead. "Pleasure's all mine. Name's Barret, and the big girl here is Bernadette. If you feel like doing some more vandalism, feel free to come looking for us."

***

The feeling of something touching his shoulders woke Barret up. Nothing was there.

With a groan, he pushed himself up, and turned on the nightlight next to his bed.

"Sorry, daddy," Marlene said. She was hugging Bernadette's paw. At three years old, she was still young enough that it was acceptable of her to hold her father's daemon.

Personally, Barret would have let her even if she were thirty.

"Sorry 'bout what?"

"Waking you."

"Don't worry. Did you have a bad dream?"

Marlene nodded.

"Wanna come up in bed with daddy, or stay down there with Bernadette?"

Marlene crawled over Bernadette to get to him. Barret had to wince a little. She was a small kid, but it still hurt to have her press her knees between his daemon's ribs.

She settled on top of his chest.

"Wanna talk to me about it?" Barret asked.

"No."

Alright, then. "What do you want?"

"Story?" Marlene asked.

Barret sighed. Bedtime story of 3AM it was, then. Planet knew he'd die for this child, but being a parent was hard work at times. "What story do you want?"

"With the princess!"

That didn't really narrow it down, but he'd try to guess.

A tickling sort of feeling told him Matias was probably pulling on Bernadette's ear. It was his new favorite game. Bernadette always let him do it, not that he could really hurt her.

Matter of fact, it was her who had to be more cautious around him. She used to barely touch Matias when they had started raising them, but now she had gotten good at knowing how to nudge him and play safely.

Barret had also had to learn how to be careful, with a kid that small. He still feared some days that he might break Marlene by picking her up a bit too roughly. But she was such an affectionate kid, always looking for hugs, and Barret would give her all she wanted and be damned if he so much as pulled a hair on her head.

He put his hand on Marlene's shoulder. Hoping not to fall asleep before Marlene, he started talking, forcing himself not to shout as he usually did. If his baby needed comfort, than Barret would give her all the gentlest he could.

**Author's Note:**

> Daemons featured:  
> Bernadette - brown bear  
> Danica - mountain goat  
> Max - black woodpecker  
> Edelweiss - rock wallaby  
> Matias - unsettled
> 
> Headcanon time: different places have different naming traditions when it comes to daemons. In Corel it's common for daemons to have names similar to their humans, or at least starting with the same letter


End file.
